Jul 21, 2012 | news
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Henri Matisse’s “Odalisque in Red Pant,” 1925 (left) and the fake used to replace it.
(Sofia Imber Contemporary Art Museum, via Associated Press) |
The Henri Matisse painting, “Odalisque in Red Pants” was stolen a decade ago from a museum in Venezuela. On Tuesday, a man and woman allegedly tried to sell the $3 million artwork for $740,000 to an undercover FBI agent in Miami. The couple has been charged with transporting and possessing stolen property, and could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
The stolen work was replaced with a look-a-like that ended up being on view for five years before anyone noticed the original was gone. They do look similar, but I think it goes without saying that the museum curators and staff should have caught the impostor much earlier. Which I suppose just goes to show that it’s the name we pay to see, and unfortunately the subtleties of even the most renowned artists can go unnoticed by the people who supposedly know them best.
Read the whole story from the LATimes here.
Jul 21, 2012 | inspiration
There’s so much to gain by comparing works with one another. Especially when they deviate only slightly. And whether it was intentional or just happenstance, it’s still interesting to see what came from two different artists with the same idea. Because no two pieces will ever be alike when they come from different hands.
Studies: Hisaji Hara’s photo studies of Balthus’ images of erotic innocence
In this series, Hara modelled his photos on paintings by the controversial 20th century artist, Balthus. But in this study of Balthus’ work, he dressed up his subjects in school uniforms to emphasize this transitional period between childhood and adulthood.
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Balthus, Katia reading (Katia Lisant), 1974, tempera on canvas, 180 x 210 cm
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Hisaji Hara, A Study of ‘Katia Reading’, 2009. Courtesy of Michael Hoppen Gallery,
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Balthus, The Room, c.1953, oil on canvas, 335 x 270.5 cm
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Hisaji Hara, A Study of ‘The Room’, 2009. Courtesy of Michael Hoppen Gallery
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Balthus, Portrait de Therese, 1939, Lithograph.
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Hisaji Hara, A Study of ‘Portrait of Therese’, 2009.
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Similars: Although the following works were made independently, they both show representations of a kind of drawn long-exposure, revealing multiple hand-on-head poses of worry.
Jul 20, 2012 | news
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| Chuck Close’s self-portrait and Scott Blake’s self-portrait using his Chuck Close filter. |
A couple of years ago, digital artist Scott Blake created a website called FreeChuckCloseArt.com that could apply a filter to any image to make it look like one of Chuck Close’s famous pixelated paintings.
Blake was described by The New York Observer as “an up-and-comer in the art realm with a zest for digital art and a knack for ticking off Mr. Close.”
After Close asked him to take the filter down and threatened a lawsuit, he did, but the two have been responding and critiquing each other ever since.
In response to the photo filter Close said, “it may be an amusing project and many people might like it, but it is MY art that is trivialized, MY career you are jeopardizing, MY legacy, which i have to think about for my children, and MY livelihood. i must fight to protect it.” (November 2010)
Chuck Close’s paintings are unique now, but does he have the right to own the format of pixelation just because he was the first to paint that way? Blake didn’t steal one single entity, he stole a format, an idea.
If Andy Warhol were around, would he sue Apple for PhotoBooth’s pop art filter?
DrawClose wrote a really great piece about the controversy here, and you can check out where the online photo filter used to be on Blake’s site here.
Photos and quotes from HyperAllergic.
Jul 20, 2012 | news
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| Attendees at June 3rd’s Average Joe Sale |
Miami Beach native Yuval Ofir recently opened a gallery called YO Space, an 800-square-foot gallery where he holds a monthly art event called the Average Joe Sale. Twelve artists sell original pieces, all for under $250.
Ofir’s hope is that these events will expose local artwork to those who can actually afford to buy it.
“Let’s face it,” he told The Miami Herald, “most of us can’t hand with the De La Cruz’s and Rubells of the world.”
One more person trying to spread beautiful things as far as they’ll reach.
Read The Miami Herald’s full story here.
You can also check out Ofir’s blog, YO Miami.
Jul 14, 2012 | news
Today Google’s homepage is “The Kiss,” commemorating the 150th birthday of Austrian painter Gustav Klimt. My sister actually gave me a print of this painting for my birthday last year, but I hung it horizontally on accident and all my friends made fun of me. But I ended up liking it better that way, because I’d rather the couple be cuddling and laying down than on a hillside that ends after her feet for no reason. I don’t think Klimt would have minded that I hung it the wrong way. But they do look better standing on Google’s page.
Check out some Klimt history in the Christian Science Monitor’s article on this 150th celebration.
